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Ripton author and editor Andrea Chesman has written dozens of down-to-earth cookbooks with a focus on vegetables over the last three decades.

Her latest, “The Pickled Pantry: From Apple to Zucchini, 150 recipes for Pickles, Relishes, Chutneys & More” (Storey Publishing, 2012), notes how things have changed over the years, especially as regards the general attitude toward preserving the seasonal harvest.

“In the 1980s, few saw the need to preserve food as long as the supermarket was able to supply fresh vegetables year-round,” Chesman writes. “A couple of times I was asked to teach a pickling course, but the courses failed to attract many students.”

Zip forward a few decades.

“Recently a perfect storm of food safety scares plus an economy downturn has led many people to reconsider gardening and preserving,” she continues in her new book’s introduction. “A desire to eat local foods in season and reduce the carbon footprint of the food we eat has made pickle making particularly attractive.”

Count on Chesman for a solid run-through of the basics: from safe canning practices to a good selection of small batch freezer or fridge pickles that don’t require specialized equipment.

Another thing that has changed, and is reflected in her most recent book, is our expanded food and flavor horizon.

In addition to Chesman’s classic, no-fail half sour pickles, there are also recipes for various styles of Korean-style kimchi, Salvadoran-style curtido and yes, even some cocktails spiked with pickle juice.

“While pickling seems like an old-fashioned farmhouse skill,” Chesman wrote in an email, “we eat now from a global menu, and it’s nice to be able to accompany our meals with the traditional accompaniments.”

Gingery quick pickled daikon radish and carrot

Daikon radish is a long-keeping radish that is found wherever Asian vegetables are sold. It is usually about 1 and one-half inches in diameter and grows to lengths more than a foot long. Usually the produce manager cuts the daikon into more manageable lengths. This is a nice pickle to have on hand to accompany Chinese or Japanese dishes. Makes one quart.